Philosophy: Realism

Philosopher John Searle talks about what he calls a persistent error among western philosophers since the Greeks--namely, the notion that the external world is not real in and of itself, but instead is dependent on human minds and human consciousness for its existence.

Philosopher John Searle talks about the anti-realist view that we never actually perceive the real world and instead only perceive our own perceptions of that world. Professor Searle argues that this is incorrect, that we do, in fact, have direct perceptual access to the real world.